PERSONAL: Age 54. She is married to John Larkin Cook. They have two children.

EDUCATION: Law degree and bachelor’s degree in political science from MU.

OCCUPATION: Retired attorney

CIVIC ACTIVITIES: Former secretary of state and member of the Missouri Board of Education, the First Presbyterian Church of Cape Girardeau, the Commission on the Future of the South, the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, the Jefferson Club and Law Society at MU and the Foundation at Southeast Missouri State University.